


Colder and Later

by ChicBel



Series: Long Ass Night [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Blushing, Crushes, Falling In Love, Fluff, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Ice Skating AU, Izumi and Kouji finally meet Kags, KageHina - Freeform, Kageyama Tobio's Birthday, Kags can't look at Shou, Long Ass Night, M/M, Sugamama, dadchi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-10 08:17:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11123337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChicBel/pseuds/ChicBel
Summary: It was so, so perfect and Tobio couldn't keep his eyes off of Hinata then. His expression when he leaped was even perfect. His eyes had been closed and his lips were parted just enough to see the whites of his teeth. His cheeks were still pink from the cold and the light made the sweat that slid down the side of his face sparkle and it was just all too perfect.Hinata was perfect.





	1. Colder and Later

**Author's Note:**

  * For [faithipoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithipoo/gifts), [Alieroway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alieroway/gifts).



> Yeah..this took unnecessarily long to post but here is the the first half of the second part. Second chapter coming really soon, not lying this time 
> 
>    
> Enjoy :)

It was getting colder and later into December. It was almost Christmas and Kageyama's birthday was even closer. All Shouyou could think about was how quickly the dates inched their way closer and closer to him, so close that Hinata could have just reached out his hand and touched it. 

 

But he needed to focus on other things and he tried, really, like, studying for finals and skating, but seeing the soon-to-be 18 year old everyday wasn't helping... _at all._ It was seeing Tobio’s intense, blueberry eyes everyday at the same time for practice, their focused coach gaze on him while he skated, and the other few times when his eyes were on him while they took a break, that made Shouyou into a complete mess. He couldn't concentrate on anything else and he hated himself for it. Finals were _way_ closer than his coach’s birthday, he shouldn't be thinking about what he should buy or _if_ he should buy anything for that matter. Damn it, _none_ of that should have been crossing his mind. The two of them only knew each other for a few weeks for god’s sake. 

 

Sigh, it was December 17th already and if Shouyou didn't get his shit together he was going to fail the stupid first semester. Maybe he should ask Tobio for a few days off from skating so he could focus on the finals and maybe Tobio needed to focus on his studies, too. 

 

He had groaned into his couch pillow then because, although he  _ really  _ needed to study, he didn't want to stop seeing Kageyama everyday. He groaned even louder, “Damn it!” and hoped the pillow stifled his yell some because neither his mother or Natsu liked it when he yelled. 

 

He sighed all dramatic like and opened his textbook. He had to at least get  _ some _ studying in tonight. He read and read, wrote and wrote, jamming all the information he needed and didn't inside his head. _ I need to pass, I need to pass,  _ the words repeated themselves over and over in his mind, rubbing so close to the information as motivation. More reading, more writing and the night felt like it was never going to end. The night was filled with pages being flipped, his fingers getting a new paper cut with every turn of a page, his eyelids falling as if they had weights strapped to his eyelashes, his hand cramping, the tip of his pencil breaking every time he tried to write something, his sharpener sharpening every time it happened and him stretching every ten minutes so he could stay awake and since he hadn't ate anything his stomach had started to growl and then the  moon had started to fall. 

 

A rough night, it was. 

 

It was even later in the evening when his phone started to ring. His eyes were practically closed by then, so he couldn't recognize the name, but he answered the phone anyway. “Hinata?” came the voice from the other end and every fiber in Hinata’s body was alert and no longer fighting to stay awake. 

 

He knew that voice from anywhere. 

 

Shouyou, unnecessarily, cleared his throat with a cough. “Yeah?” He tried not to sound as nervous as he was, but Kageyama never called so late, hardly called at all, in fact.

 

“Are you okay?” Tobio's voice was full of concern and Shouyou could almost see his eyebrows furrowing with worry instead of anger like he did whenever Hinata would fall on the ice when they skated. 

 

“Yeah, I'm great. Why?” And Shouyou’s voice was full of confusion, but he liked when Tobio’s voice was caring, especially when he was the one being cared for. 

 

“You didn't show up for practice today.” 

 

“Oh, shit! Practice! I totally forgot! I'm so sorry. I got so caught up in studying that practice didn't even cross my mind.” Forget? How could he forget? He never forgot. Practice (seeing Kageyama) was what he looked forward to everyday. But why did he call so late about practice even though they usually finish practice hours earlier than the time it was now? 

 

“That’s fine. Studying for finals, right?” his voice was more calm and wasn’t so concerned anymore and Hinata got shivers because Kageyama's voice sounded so different on the phone than what it did in person; his voice on the phone was rather confident, lower, and possibly even sexy. 

 

Wait,  _ sexy? _

 

“Yeah, aren't you?” His voice shook just a little. He hated how nervous he got when they talked on the phone.

 

“Nah.” Shouyou noticed that his coach’s voice also got deeper as the night grew later. 

 

“Gwa! Are you a genius, too?” Shouyou was amazed. Kageyama could do everything, couldn't he?

 

“Almost.” 

 

“That isn't fair,” he said pouting his lips. He was too busy being jealous to be amazed or nervous anymore. 

 

“Okay. Remember to go to sleep. Later.” Tobio hung up first, like he always did when they talked on the phone. 

 

Another dramatic sigh. Why was Kageyama always so quick on the phone? Why couldn't they speak longer? And why couldn't Hinata be naturally smart like that so he wouldn't have to study? Or why wasn’t he naturally good at ice skating? Or naturally good at  _ anything _ ? He laid down and shoved his face into a pillow because he didn't want to study anymore, he wanted to sulk and sigh for the rest of the night. Forget studying. 

 

_ Shouyou, you dumbass, you  _ really _ want to fail the first semester?  _ Sigh. _ Fine _ . Maybe, he'd try sulking some other time when he didn't have to study. 

  
  
  


The next day came quicker than Shouyou thought it was going to. He was studying until the sun was in his face and he only got forty minutes of sleep. He had to take a few of his tests today and he was packed with so much information that maybe he could share with a few of his classmates, but he wasn't going to do that because 1) all of his classmates always passed their exams and 2) they never shared their knowledge with him anyways, so why should he?

 

He was almost certain that he was going to pass all his tests he had today and if he studied as hard as he had last night then he was sure he was going to pass the rest as well. He walked in his classroom with his head held high and a grin so wide the corner of his lips touched the tips of his ears. “Shouyou, why are you so happy? It’s semester exams, you’re usually sulking in that corner over there,” Kouji said pointing to one of the corners at the back of the classroom. 

 

“I studied all night,” Hinata said proudly, walking over to his desk. 

 

“Oh no,” Izumi said. His face fell and went pale before he ran over to the window. He started to look out of it as if searching for something important in the sky.

 

“What’s wrong, Izumi?” Shouyou asked making his way towards his friend at the window. 

 

“Shouyou, you...can you see it?” Izumi pointed at the clouds.

 

“See what, Izumi?” He looked out of the window, desperately trying to see something, anything, but all that was outside was just piles and piles of snow. 

 

“The storm. The storm’s coming, Shouyou. It’s going to be the biggest storm this world has ever seen. They say we’d be lucky if even one person survived it.” Izumi took his gaze off the window and looked at Hinata with the most terrified face he’d ever seen.

 

“Storm? Izumi, what are you talking about?” Hinata was genuinely concerned. He looked over at Kouji for help, but his friend was laughing his ass off. Shouyou looked back at Izumi, but his face was still blank. 

 

“Shou, you studying means... the end of the world, the worst of the worst,” Izumi said fighting back a smile. 

 

“Oh my god, Izumi, you asshole. I hate you. I actually thought you were being serious,” Shouyou said pushing his friend away and sitting back in his seat. “I hate both of you.” 

 

“Shou, we were just kidding,” Kouji managed to say in between laughs. 

 

“Yeah, Shouyou, we’re really proud that you studied,” Izumi said, patting his orange haired friend on the back. 

 

“No. Don’t touch me. We’re about to test, so go back to your seat.” Hinata wasn’t really mad, he was too old to get mad that quickly over silly things like that, but it was fun messing with his friends. 

 

“Okay, students, quiet down,” their teacher said. “I’m passing the tests out now. You’re all third years now and your semester exams mean a lot. Try your hardest and I wish you all the best of luck,” she said as she laid the first test on Izumi’s desk. 

 

_ Come on, Shouyou. You got this. You didn’t study all night for nothing,  _ Shouyou thought as he wrote his name on his test. He read the first question on the test and to his surprise, he knew the answer. It was as if his brain took pictures of all that he studied last night because for every question his notes and past papers he studied off of showed up in his mind’s eye, giving him every answer he needed. He went through the test in a flash. It was probably the easiest test he’d ever taken his entire school life. As he went to turn his test into his teacher, he wondered why he never studied his past school years.

 

“Hinata, finished already?” she whispered because some of the class was still testing. He nodded proudly, but once he looked at the rest of the class, Shouyou’s stomach kind of twisted when he noticed he was the only one done with the exam. He was never the first one to finish a test, as a matter of fact, he was always the very  _ last _ one to finish. He started second guessing himself. Did he really get the right answers? Were the answers that popped in his head even from the papers he studied? He didn’t even look over his test. 

 

_ Damn it.  _

 

He went back to his seat, regretting that he ever rushed through his test. Hinata laid his head on his desk as he waited quietly for everyone else to finish. He tried getting his mind off of the test so he started to think of things he could get Kageyama for his birthday. He realized he really didn’t know his coach all that well, so making a list was kind of hard. He sighed and groaned quietly to himself as he marked off possible things he could get Kageyama for his birthday. It wasn't long until Hinata realized it was way easier to think of things to get for Noya, who was a very indecisive man when it came to things he wanted. 

 

What to do, what to get. 

 

Several minutes passed when the other students started turning in their tests and it wasn’t much later when the whole class was finished. 

 

“Shou, you finished fast. Did you guess?” Kouji teased. 

 

“Shut up. I didn't guess. I studied,” Hinata said, his voice almost sounded empty to his friends.

 

To Izumi Hinata looked a little out of it. He seemed like his mind was on a totally different planet and didn’t even care that it left its body on earth. He looked at his friend and Shou was still resting his head on his desk and not minding anything that was going on around him, when he was usually the one in the middle of everything. Izumi could have easily blamed it on the fact that Hinata hardly got any sleep last night, but Hinata had been like this for a few weeks. As a friend, Izumi could only worry and ask a couple of questions, but who knew if Hinata would tell him anything? Shouyou hardly ever told him and Kouji things. 

“Shouyou,” Kouji said, poking at Hinata's forehead to get his attention that was obviously being paid elsewhere.

 

“Hm?” He looked up at his friend, head still on the desk.

 

“You okay, man?” 

 

“Yep. Why?”

 

“You're acting like you aren't even here.” 

 

“Oh,” Hinata chuckled a little, just a bit embarrassed. “Sorry. I'm just trying really hard to think of what I should get someone for their birthday. It isn't that big of deal, Kouji. No worries, alright?” 

 

“Who’s birthday? One of your really old guy friends?” Izumi asked. 

 

“Hey, they’re just three years older than us, and no. My ice skating coach.” Hinata was smiling now, but it was hardly noticeable because his head was still down.

 

“What? You have a coach now?” This was news to the two friends. They just recently found out that Hinata skated and now he had someone coaching him? 

 

“Only for a few weeks,” he said picking up his head, finally, and actually looking at both of his friends. 

 

“What's their name?” 

 

“His name is Kageyama Tobio.” Hinata fought the urge to smile as his lips formed his coach's name.

 

“Is he super old, too?”

 

“Nah, he's actually our age or about to be, anyway.”

 

“So, he's coaching someone older than him?”

 

Shouyou laughed. “He's been skating for 15 years, Kouji, and he’s basically a pro. I actually think he's qualified to coach anyone.”

 

“I wanna meet him,” Izumi said, smiling. He was curious about Hinata's new friend. He was curious how Shouyou knew so many people, actually. Like, how did he know Suga, or Nishinoya, or Yamaguchi, or that lanky jerk in their year, Tsukishima? The boys had met them all before, but only once. He wanted to know how Kageyama treated his little friend and if he treated him good. He knew Shouyou was old enough to watch out for himself, but he was like a baby brother to Izumi and he didn't want anyone upsetting Hinata.

  
  


The bell rang and the halls flooded with students. The rest of Hinata's classes went like the first, (except for the part where Izumi and Kouji kept asking questions) from the teacher being surprised that Shouyou was the first to finish to the part where he kept thinking of things to get Tobio. 

 

The day went by quickly he walked home to grab something for both Kageyama and himself to snack on during break at practice, like he usually did. He greeted his mother and sister with his usual smile and hug. His mom always had a snack ready for him to take to practice everyday and today was curry pork buns. Hinata thanked his mom and she handed him water and milk for Kageyama because everyone knew how obsessed he was with the white beverage. Hinata laughed to himself when he remembered how Kageyama looked whenever  he would drink his milk. He liked seeing his eyebrows furrow as he drank the carton like it was a best friend who stabbed him in the back and he also liked the face Tobio made when he took his extremely HUGE small bites out of his food. Hinata snorted,  _ Kageyama was a dork.  _

 

He headed for the rink thinking about the many times when Tobio didn't look extremely angry. Like, whenever he listened to music or the face he made whenever Hinata hurt himself or, his personal favorite, the face when Tobio skated so peacefully and gracefully, full of skill. He loved to watch Kageyama skate because whenever he did it was as if all his problems dispersed into  nothing and if the weight of the entire universe was lifted off his shoulders. 

 

He had made it to the rink and, as usual, Kageyama was already there. “Hey,” Hinata said holding up the meat buns and drinks, smiling. Kageyama was filing his fingernails before he walked over to Shouyou. He took the bag with the food and drinks in it and set it on a nearby table, his hand brushing Hinata's as he did. He did that a lot lately, Hinata noticed, but he could never get used it. 

 

“Let's practice first,” Tobio said. 

 

“Okay,” Hinata replied, wishing that his coach would look at him in the eyes even though it made him nervous. Hinata followed Kageyama to the changing room, where they left their skates everyday. He watched his teacher’s broad shoulders as he walked behind him and his face got hot. Why, all of a sudden, did Hinata start getting nervous around Tobio? And  _ when  _ did he start getting nervous? When they first met, Shouyou was the one to strike a conversation, so why was he just now getting red? Little things like shoulders weren't supposed to make him nervous. His coach's peaceful face when he skated wasn't supposed to make Shouyou blush nor was Kageyama’s gentle hand brush against his supposed to make his heart beat faster and faster. 

 

_ Why the hell was this happening? _

 

“Hinata, are you coming?” he heard ahead of him. He looked up and saw his coach was already in the changing room, waiting for his student. Hinata realized he had stopped walking and was staring at the floor, face hot. “What's wrong?” Tobio was using his concerned voice again, but he still wasn't looking at Hinata.

 

“Sorry. I'm coming.” Shouyou was an outgoing guy. Shouyou never shut up, he was always in the middle of things, and he made lots and lots of friends everyday, so why did he always forget how to form words when he was around Tobio? Why did he always get so stupidly  embarrassed when Kageyama’s big hands folded around his smaller ones as he helped Shouyou up whenever he fell? And why wasn't Tobio looking at him? Was he mad that Hinata forgot about practice yesterday? No, he said it was fine. So, why?

 

What was this feeling he got when he couldn't get to see Kageyama? Why did he always want to see Kageyama? Why did he always _need_ to see Kageyama? And why was he getting so worked up about Tobio not looking at him? He's eighteen, goddammit, shouldn't he know these feelings? 

 

_ I hate this. _

 

He knew he liked Kageyama. He knew that much, but he's liked lots of people before, why was this like so  _ different _ ? And why was he thinking about this now? He was at practice. He came to learn how to skate. He could sort this out with Suga later. 

 

He walked in the changing room and changed into his skates with Tobio. The space was silent and the only thing to be heard was them tying their laces. 

 

“Ready?” Tobio asked, his back turned to Hinata. He hadn't looked at Shouyou's face all day. He couldn't. He didn't like the way his stomach fell or the way his heart leaped or how hot his cheeks got when he looked at his student. He knew Hinata was cute and he knew that he might actually like Hinata but he also knew that the word  _ cute  _ never crossed his mind or left his lips before he met Shouyou. Why were things like this? For fuck’s sake, the guy was about to be 18, shouldn't he at least know what he was feeling? 

 

They walked to the ice together, no words, no glances. Just silence. Stupid, stupid, loud, annoying silence.

  
  
  


Kageyama had been teaching Hinata the very things his mother taught him and exactly how she taught him. They've been doing this for a few weeks and Hinata kept improving everyday. Tobio used to think it was because he was a good teacher and Hinata was a good learner, but when he complimented Shouyou about it the boy said, “I’m doing my best because I’m going to surpass you someday, Kageyama.” His blood had started to boil underneath his skin when he heard that because oh, boy, did Tobio love a competition. He had scoffed and shook his head. “Wanna bet?” he had said without thinking. He hadn't felt sad anymore in that moment and he had felt like he could go home and tell his mom all about his day as he waited for supper. He had felt like his normal self. Those words he had told Hinata that day were words he would only say before his mother died. 

 

But today was different.  _ They  _ were different. They were feeling things they've never felt before, noticing things they've never noticed before and they had not the slightest clue of what any of it meant. Maybe they were just a pair of dummies who didn't know anything, though. It was a good thing that they had friends who were older and could help them figure out... _ whatever _ it was they were feeling. 

 

“Uh,” Tobio started, “let’s practice your jumps today, Hinata.”

 

“Okay,” his voice was quieter than usual. This awkwardness was so annoying, Hinata thought and he had to get his head out of his ass and try and do something about it. He would do better today, he planned, and he would talk to Kageyama when they took their break. Yeah, maybe that would bring things back to normal. At least a little, he hoped. 

 

“Try a Single Salchow, it should be easy for you, but I want to see,” Kageyama said, his eyes on Hinata's feet. 

 

“Uh, question,” Hinata said, holding up one small finger.

 

“Hm?” Kageyama said, bringing his eyes to meet Hinata's for the first time that afternoon, but he immediately looked away once he saw those same cold, red cheeks he saw the first time they met, those same beautiful, honey colored eyes because his heart couldn't take any bit of Shouyou, it was only so strong.  _ Why, goddammit? _

 

_ “ _ What's a Single Salchow?” he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. 

 

Tobio put a hand to his mouth, almost saying the word  _ cute  _ aloud. “Sorry, I’ll demonstrate, but only once, okay? So, pay attention,” he said just like his mother would. He skated backwards to the middle of the rink and jumped with so much ease, making one full turn. It was a very easy jump, Tobio thought. It was the first one he had learned to do and his favorite. Of course it wasn't as flashy as a quadruple flip, but it was the only jump Kageyama couldn't live without doing. Thirteen years ago, when he learned the Single Salchow, his mother had smiled so beautifully like always, the ends of her eyes wrinkling for how hard she smiled as joyful tears flowed down her cheeks.  _ “My Tobio, you're so great at this,”  _ she had said, Tobio at her chest, hugging her son whom she loved so dearly. It was the first time Tobio felt the beautiful, warm love from his mother and it was the first time Tobio felt absolutely inseparable from her. It’s special. He  _ loves  _ this jump. But he wasn't even thinking about his mother then, it was hard for him to with an orange haired someone occupying his mind every minute of every day. 

 

“Like that, okay?” Tobio said after he landed back on the ice.

 

Hinata nodded, but he didn't think he could do it  _ like that  _ because Tobio jumped with so much emotion and so much grace.  _ It's not possible,  _ he thought as he skated backwards and did a three turn to the middle of the rink, hoping that it looked at least a little like Tobio’s.

 

It wasn't like Tobio tried to make it all sad and full of emotion as a matter of fact, he wasn't even paying attention to the jump, but it was instinct to make that jump emotional, he always did and--

 

Hinata's take off was perfect just then, catching Tobio off guard and yanking him out of his thoughts. Kageyama watched Shouyou take off on the left back inside edge of his blade and spring himself in the air with no assistance of his right foot, bringing both of his arms into his chest as he made one complete spin. He landed on the right back outside edge of his blade, specks of ice flew up catching the light that surrounded Hinata making him look even brighter. And what surprised Tobio more was how Hinata didn't  even jump into the ice like a lot of first time skaters did, instead he had bent his knees, correctly and stretched out his arms, using them both in unison to spring himself out of the ice. He had lifted his left leg with his arms still stretched, gliding so gracefully on the ice, Tobio seeing all of this in slow motion, catching every flawless bit of it.

 

It was perfect. 

 

It was so, so perfect and Tobio couldn't keep his eyes off of Hinata then. His expression when he leaped was even perfect. His eyes had been closed and his lips were parted just enough to see the whites of his teeth. His cheeks were still pink from the cold and the light made the sweat that slid down the side of his face sparkle and it was just all too perfect.

 

_ Hinata _ was perfect. 

 

“How was that?” Hinata asked skating back over to Kageyama. He wanted Tobio to look at him and say he did it just right and so good because he tried his best to make it look like Tobio’s salchow from the take off to the expression Kageyama's face effortlessly held. But Tobio didn't do that. Tobio didn't even  _ try  _ to look at Hinata. 

 

_ Why? _

 

“That was perf--good. You did well,” Kageyama had said, turning his back to Hinata to cover the pinkish hue that really didn't mean to tinge his cheeks _.  _

 

“Did I do it right?” Hinata asked, desperately wanting Kageyama to look at him. Maybe even just a glance, a turn of his head signifying that he at least  _ wanted  _ to look at Shouyou, but the redhead got nothing of the sorts. 

 

“It was great, Hinata,” Tobio had said still not looking at Shouyou. Hinata sighed. It seemed like he’d been doing that a lot lately. 

 

The next few hours were the same as the first: no eye contact from Kageyama, beautiful, flawless jumping from Tobio and almost the exact same jumps from Shouyou, maybe a few falls, but Hinata made sure they weren't major. The jumps that Shouyou had learned had been what Tobio considered easy; however, for Shouyou, almost every jump kept getting harder and harder and they kept doing them over and over and over and--

 

“It’s already 7:35, I didn't even notice,” Tobio said suddenly after Hinata mimicked another jump for what felt like the hundredth time.

 

Hinata caught his breath and then said, “Is it?” 

 

“Yeah.”  _ Ugh this is so STUPID!  _ Hinata thought. He was so frustrated with this awkward atmosphere and their awkward conversations that he actually wanted to  _ scream _ at Kageyama.  _ WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU LOOKING AT ME?  _ he wanted to yell at Tobio, but he couldn't, no matter how stupid this silence was because Tobio was. . .Tobio.

 

“We should eat the food you brought, Hinata,” and it was the way Kageyama said his name, the way it fell from his beautiful, pink lips why he also couldn't scream at his coach. And Kageyama's calm voice when he said his name made him at ease and he wasn't all too frustrated anymore.

 

“Yay! I'm starviiing!” He said excitingly, rubbing his stomach as he skated to where they left the food--it was one way to stop everything from being awkward. 

 

_ Cute,  _ Kageyama thought, making his way towards Hinata. He was glad that Hinata didn't find their practice extremely awkward like Tobio did. He seemed to be acting like his normal energetic self. He even looked all giddy when he was taking off his skates before he grabbed the bag of food.

 

“Guwahh! It's freezing in here, how are they still warm?!” He heard Hinata exclaim in amazement. Kageyama looked up at Shouyou to see him holding the bag to his face. “Mm,” he had hummed. “So warm!” Kageyama stopped in his tracks, his jaw falling slightly open.  _ God, could he get any cuter?  _ Tobio looked away quickly once Hinata opened his eyes. 

 

“Kageyama?” he heard.  _ Oh no, did he catch him staring?  _ “You're not hungry?”  _ Oh. _

 

“I'm coming.” He skated to where Hinata was. The small redhead handed Tobio his half of the food and his milk after he took off his skates, setting them to the side. “Thank you.” And Hinata almost blushed because every time Kageyama thanked him it always sounded so genuine and sincere, like he was thanking him with all his heart.  _ It was just food. _

 

“N-no problem,” Hinata said as they sat against the wall. It was silent again a few seconds after. Neither had taken a bite out of their food, they just sat there. . .staring at it in their lap. 

 

_ Stupid Kageyama, say something. Anything.  _

 

“Smells good.”  _ Smells good?  _ Out of all the things he could have said he said that.  _ What a dumbass,  _ he told himself.

 

Hinata snorted,  _ what a dork.  _ “Yeah. My mom makes ‘em pretty good.” It was still awkward, but Hinata was grateful because it was Kageyama who tried to reduce the awkwardness. And it was also Kageyama who took one of his big small bites first, Hinata comfortably following after, smiling. 

 

“Mo, Mageyama,” Hinata said before swallowing a mouthful of pork bun. “Did you have to take tests today?” 

 

“Yeah,” he said, taking another one of his monstrous bites. 

 

“Did you study?” 

 

“Not really.” 

 

“Why nooot?” he sang. Yeah, he was trying to be cute, so what? 

 

Tobio looked at Hinata then and it was only for a second, but in that short amount of time he saw Hinata's honey-colored eyes looking back at him and oh, they were still as marvelous as ever. They still held that blinding shine Tobio loved so much. He coughed, choking on his food.  _ They're just eyes, Tobio, chill.  _

 

“You okay there?” Hinata asked a smile on his face as he handed Tobio his milk.

 

Kageyama took a drink and said,“Yeah.” He almost died just by looking at Shouyou, was he really okay?

  
  


It was after a while when they finished eating that Tobio spoke again saying, “Hinata.” Hinata jumped. The way Tobio said his name always got Shouyou nervous.  The way he always let some time pass after every time he let ‘Hinata’ pass his lips made Shouyou's heart pound with every tick of the clock above their heads. He looked over at his coach, curious of what he might say, but Tobio was still just sitting there, staring at his hands in his lap. “Uh,” he started again. “Never mind.”

 

“Oh, alright.” Well, damn, Kageyama was probably going to let Hinata know about something serious in his life or probably something hinting at what he would want for his birthday. 

 

Tobio cleared his throat. “You worked hard today, Hinata. You can go home now. I’ll lock up.” He stood, picking up all the trash they left behind and throwing them in the nearby trash bin. Hinata just watched him before heading back to the changing room to grab his things and put on his Converse. 

 

“Okay, well, I’ll see you later, Kageyama,” he said once he got back. He threw up his hand, making a V with two of his fingers, holding them close to his smiling face. Kageyama looked a little surprised at first and Hinata could have sworn he saw a light pink cover Tobio’s entire face, but he looked away immediately, letting his stoic face return, the pink fading as if it was never there.

 

“Yeah, later,” Kageyama said slinging his backpack on his back, heading to the locker room and although he walked passed Hinata with his head down, Hinata saw just a little, tiny glimpse of his coach biting his unnecessarily plump bottom lip and his heart freaked, jumping out of pace and then completely stopping.  _ God,  _ he thought as he walked out of the building,  _ I really need Suga to help me with this heart problem I have.  _

 

It was colder and later outside than it was when Shouyou arrived at the rink. The sun was gone, the trees’ branches were shivering, and it was probably about to snow. It reminded Hinata of a day before he even knew Tobio existed. He was walking home alone from school and the scenery was impossibly beautiful, with all the snow falling and the street enjoying the peace it received from being empty, besides Hinata and the snow falling onto it soundlessly. 

 

He hardly ever walked alone anywhere and it had been the first time he did in a very long time. He forgot what it was like to be by himself without having to constantly feel as if he had to entertain someone. 

 

Of course, he was  _ extremely  _ cold and his teeth were chattering and he was rubbing his arms to make them at least a little warm, but he had been too in engrossed in the temporary beauty of the snowfall that he had hardly paid any attention to the cold. 

 

He hadn't been paying attention to anything besides the snowfall after a while into his walk home and consequently bumped into a gray haired man and fallen flat on his butt. 

 

Sugawara Koushi. It was their first meeting and Hinata remembers every second of it, but not only because it was very embarrassing to fall on your ass in front of an incredibly beautiful person but also because it was the day he met his best friend. 

 

_ “Oh, dear, are you okay?”  _ he remembered Suga say in his caring mom’s voice as he helped Hinata up on his feet again. 

 

_ “Uh, y-yeah,”  _ Hinata stuttered in awe of the beauty of the man before him.  _ “Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you alright?”  _

  
_ “Yep,”  _ and Suga smiled, looking all the more stunning. _ “No harm done here, sweetie.”  _ His words fell from his mouth as softly as the snowflakes fell from the sky and his voice was so warm and comforting despite the miserable cold that day. 


	2. Colder-er and Later-er lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was something else completely, something furry and erratic, fluttering like wings and humming like bugs all over his insides until they hurt with it. It was usually just the fluttering and his stomach hurting, but this time was way different, way more painful, way more nerve wracking and it kept increasing with every step he took, every breath he drew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is hope you like it oh and this takes place right after the first chapter...
> 
> Enjoy!

Hinata made it to his house before he knew it and he walked in, taking off his shoes and locking the door behind him. He said hi to Mom and Natsu like he usually did even though he was dreadfully cold and just so damn  _ exhausted,  _ both physically and mentally, but he had a mission he had to accomplish before he even thought about getting wrapped up in his covers and going to sleep in his bed that looked impossibly comfortable with how the pillows were thrown across it and how the blankets were messily folded because he sucked at making his bed and  _ god,  _ he so wished he could do that right about now.

 

No. He had something he needed to do that he needed some help with and three days wasn't enough time. He threw all his stuff on his bed and sat at his desk, pulling out his phone. He dialed the number of the only person he thought could actually help him in this desperate time of need. 

 

It was on the third ring when Suga finally answered. “Hey, dear, what's up?” 

 

“Mommyy, I need your help with something,” Hinata said in the cutest way possible, cringing at himself just a little. 

 

“Of course, dear,” Suga played along, giggling. “What is it you need Mommy for?”

 

“Eww,” Hinata laughed. “I don't know what to get Kageyama for his birthday.” 

 

“Uh-oh. When is it?”

 

“Twenty second. . .”

 

A dramatic gasp suddenly flew threw the phone lines and into Hinata's ear. “Shouyou! You’re just  _ now  _ trying to think about what to get your boyfriend?”

 

“Mkay, one: Kageyama is  _ not  _ my boyfriend and two: no. I've actually been thinking about what I should get him since he told me his birth date, which, mind you, wasn't that long ago because we just met.” 

 

“Whatever. What does Not-your-boyfriend like?” 

 

“Uh, ice skating, food...uh, milk? That’s all I know.”

 

“Wow. Do you guys not talk at all?” 

 

“We do, but Koushi, we just met.” 

 

“Then should you even get him anything?” 

 

“Well, it  _ would  _ be nice if I did and he’s my coach,” Hinata crossed his ankles and blushed thinking about how happy Tobio might be if Hinata got him a gift.

 

“ _ Just _ your coach, Shouyou?” 

 

Hinata's thought ended as soon as it started, his face falling serious along with the blood that rose to his cheeks. “That’s actually another thing I want to talk to you about. . .” he said holding the phone tight because it kept slipping with all the sweat that was building up in his hands.

 

“Oh? Does little Hinata have feelings for Kageyama?” Suga said, his smirk so loud Hinata could hear it over the phone.

 

Hinata shook his head.  _ Focus.  _ “Another time, Suga. Can you just help with the gift right now?” 

 

“Just show up to school with all his favorite things and a cake. I mean, it's simple.” 

 

“And easy.”

 

“...Shou, that's what simple means.” 

 

“Huh?” 

 

“Nothing. So, you gonna do that?”

 

“Hell yeah, it's a good idea and---” Hinata fell silent and hung his head low.

 

“And?” Nothing. “Shouyou?” Suga said taking a quick glance at his phone to see if he accidentally hung up on his friend. He didn't. “Shou?”

 

“I don't know what school he goes to.” 

 

“What the hell, Shouyou? How do you not know?”

 

“It never came up?” he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

 

“Never came up,” he scoffed.

 

“It didn't,” Hinata  argued back defensively. 

 

“Do you have his number?’

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ask him.”

 

“Ask him what?”

 

“Oh my god, Shou,” Suga face palmed earning a glance from Daichi because Suga never got frustrated with anything or anyone and he was usually a very calm and collected young man,  but sometimes Shouyou just. . .you know? “Ask him what school he goes to.” 

 

“Oh, yeah, but I'm talking to you.” 

 

“Shou, just call me back.” 

 

“Okay.” 

 

Suga sighed when Shouyou hung up.  _ Shouyou really needs all the help he can get, _ he thought as he laid back on his bed and looked up at Daichi who was talking to someone on his phone. 

 

“Dude, just call me back,” Daichi said, sighing as he hung up the phone.

 

“Who was that?” Suga asked moving to lay his head on his boyfriend's lap. 

 

“Kageyama,” he said running a hand through Koushi’s incredibly soft hair. 

 

“Mm,” he hummed, he loved Daichi’s hands in his hair. “Is everything okay?” 

 

“Yeah. He just wanted some help.” 

 

“So did Shouyou. Was it homework?”

 

“Nah, not this time. He’s super confused about these feelings he has for someone even more than he has ever been with his homework, though.”

 

“Poor guy.”

 

“What's even sadder is that he’s stupid in love and doesn't even know it.”

 

Suga giggled. “Sounds familiar.”

 

“What do you mean ‘sounds familiar?’ I knew I was in love with you once I saw you.” 

 

“So cheesy, Sawamura Daichi,” Suga teased, giggling as Daichi tugged on his hair a little.

 

“So, what's up with your friend?” Daichi asked.

 

“He wanted help with a birthday present.”

 

“Birthday? Tobio's, right?”

 

“Yeah. He’s making a huge deal about it.”

 

“Uh, has he said anything about any feelings he has for Tobio?” Daichi asked continuing to pet his boyfriend's hair.

 

Suga looked up at him, his eyebrows raised with a smirk on his face. “Maybe. Who's asking, Mr. Wingman?”

 

Daichi laughed. “No one, but Tobio is crazy about him and completely clueless to how hard he’s fallen for him already. He even thinks Hinata hates him. What a dumbass.”

 

“Daichi, you can't call him a dumbass just because he doesn't know what love is. He at least knows he likes Shou, right? Because if he doesn't then and only then can you call him a dumbass, maybe.”

 

Daichi smiled. “Yeah, he knows.”

 

“Good.” Their phones rang simultaneously causing them to both sigh. 

 

“I trust you not to tell Hinata about this. Let them figure it out themselves,” Daichi said before he answered the call.

 

“So, what school does he go to?” Koushi asked as soon as he put the phone to his ear.

 

“Koush, he goes to Karasuno!” Hinata screeched through the phone without even caring about his friend’s dear ear because damn, that hurt. “Fucking  **_KARASUNO!_ ** How did I not know that!?”

 

_ Should’ve known it,  _ Suga thought to himself as he rubbed his damaged ear. 

 

“I never seen him in the halls at school and you know what he told me when I said that? He said, ‘I usually walk through the halls really fast and probably because you're short.’”

 

Suga couldn't help but smile. “He went there,” Suga said laughing. Hinata didn't like being called short at all, he learned that the hard way, but it was still hilarious.

 

“It isn't funny, Koushi!” Hinata said despite the laugh that was building up in his throat and how fast his heart was fluttering. Kageyama made a joke, a simple short joke, but it made Shouyou so happy and he had no idea why.

 

“Okay, okay. So, what else happened?”

 

“He asked why all of a sudden did I ask and I told him that I was just curious. And then I started thinking.”

 

“Uh-oh,” Suga teased.

 

“Shut up. I was thinking, ‘ _ If we go to the same school and I never saw him, did he ever see me?’  _ So, I asked.”

 

“And what’d he say?” Not gonna lie, Suga was wondering the same thing, so he was a bit curious, too.

 

“He said, ‘No. . . you're too short.’” 

 

Suga giggled all bubbly and cute earning a look of utter affection and admiration from Daichi to which he blushed and turned his head. “And then what did you say?”

 

“Nothing. I acted like I was mad and hung up.” And to be honest, Hinata  _ was _ a little mad because he couldn't catch the attention of Kageyama as he walked through the halls which was stupid to be mad about considering that Tobio told him he usually walked really fast.

 

“Well, you just do what I told you to and I’m sure he’ll like it,” Suga said remembering that Kageyama was hardcore in love with Shouyou.

 

“You sure? It seems kinda silly now that I think about it.”

 

“I’m completely positive and it isn't silly.”

 

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna go. I still have tests to study for.”

 

They hung up leaving him and Daichi alone in his comfortable room and on his cloud soft bed and only they know what happened after. 

 

* * *

 

December 20th and once again Hinata walked into school with so much confidence, but this time he had a few butterfly friends that had nothing else to do but flutter in his stomach to the song his brain sang:  _ Kageyama is here, kageyama is near! Oh no, my poor, poor, young heart. It's fluttering so much, it could break apart. Kageyama is here at Karasuno High School. Kageyama is near, just act cool.  _

 

Shouyou kept looking right, left, up--never down because apparently he was “too short”--as he walked through the hallway that morning before class started. He was being very cautious, almost paranoid even,  thinking that Tobio was going to pop around any corner and--

 

“Yo, Shou!” he heard, jumping at the voice. He turned and mentally sighed with relief.  _ It's just Izumi and Kouji.  _

 

“Hey.” He waved and walked over to his friends; the halls were almost empty already. 

 

“Why’re you roaming the halls?” Izumi said putting an arm around his shorter friend. “Class is about to start and we have tests to take.” 

 

“I’m not roaming. Am I?” He was never in the halls when there was only seconds left until the tardy bell rang, so he actually didn't know if he was roaming the halls like they said. 

 

“Kinda,” Kouji said. “But we gotta hurry right now before we’re late. Come on,” he said grabbing Hinata's wrist who dragged Izumi behind him. They made it into their class, found their desks and just as their butts touched their seats the bell rang. 

 

“Alright class,” their teacher announced loudly as if he was talking to a class of a million. “You all know we have a semester exam today in my class, so I hope you studied and if you didn't. . . well, sucks to suck.” He looked right at Hinata when he said this and just as Shouyou was about to get offended and say that as a matter of fact he did in to study and he was going to definitely ace this test he remembered that it was the first time he ever studied in his life and completely deserved the look from his teacher. He sat back in his chair and waited for the tests to be passed out. “And,” his teacher started again, “just like all my tests, each copy is different, so go ahead and try cheating; it won't work.” He started to pass out the tests.

  
  


The day was just like yesterday: the tests were easy and went by in a flash. Hinata finished his last exam for the year and there was still thirty minutes left until the lunch bell rang. He kept fidgeting in his seat and kept looking at the clock above his teacher's desk, watching the hands of it tick annoyingly slow. His stomach wouldn't stop fluttering he was so nervous. 

 

_ Kageyama is here, Kageyama is near. _

 

“Hinata,” his teacher stage whispered. “You’re moving too much, do you need to go to the restroom?” and apparently that was the most hilarious thing the class had ever heard because each one of the students laughed. Hinata shook his head. “Well, stop fidgeting, you're distracting the testers,” she said gesturing towards the class that still had a few students--Izumi and Kouji--laughing. 

 

“Sorry,” he apologized. 

 

Several minutes passed before Shouyou looked at the clock again. 11:52, _good,_ _just eight more minutes._ He couldn't stand sitting down at all today because he knew Tobio was there, he knew Tobio was in class here in Karasuno probably thinking about his lunch or ice skating and probably forgot all about him and Shouyou going to the same school. Hinata laid his head down on his folded arms and sighed. 

 

He really did like Kageyama, didn't he? He really did like how broad Tobio's shoulders were, how muscular they seemed to look under his extremely tight shirts he occasionally wore, how big and oddly pretty his tan hands were, how gorgeous they looked when they held anything or even just hung loosely at his sides, how smooth his voice was every time he talked, how deep and soft it was whenever they talked on the phone, how hot it sounded that one time they had really early morning practice because neither of them could in the evening, and especially how dorky he was despite his looks. 

 

“Shouyou,” was what, unfortunately, pulled him out of his thoughts. “What's up with you? The lunch bell rang already and you didn't run out the door like usually,” Kouji said, looking at his friend suspiciously. “And you were smiling and blushing like an idiot just now.” 

 

“Ooo,” Izumi sang as he helped Shouyou out of his chair. “Is Shouyou  _ in loooove?”  _ he teased as he wrapped an arm around Hinata's neck. 

 

_ Love?  _ His heart stopped, the word ringing in his head.  _ Is that what this is?  _

 

“I’m kidding, Shou, you don't have to get all serious,” Izumi said, laughing a little. 

 

Hinata played it off by laughing and shoving Izumi away playfully.  _ I’ll ask Suga later.  _ “Whatever, Zoom, let's just eat lunch already. I’m starving!” 

 

They laughed as they made their way to their usual spot in the cafeteria because it was too cold to sit outside like they normally did. They sat down at the table close to one of the windows and when Hinata felt inside his lunch bag he felt a familiar soft, round warmth in his hand.  _ Meat bun.  _ He pulled it out and sank his teeth into it, letting the delicious pork flavor spread all over his tongue. 

 

“So, Shouyou, what's up with that Kageyama dude?” Izumi asked.

 

_ Shit _ . Kageyama goes to the same school and he was so close to forgetting. “Uh, what about him?” Hinata said taking another bite to calm his nerves. 

 

“When do we get to meet him?” Should he tell them? Could he handle being around Tobio without being stupid? Nope. Could Tobio handle being around other people? Probably not.

 

_ They're your  _ friends,  _ Shouyou. They deserve to know a little something again.  _ “He actually goes here,” he said and he could see Izumi ready to start yelling but Hinata cut him off. “Want me to call him over here?” his voice was strong and calm, but when both Kouji and Izumi nodded and when he took out his phone to dial Tobio's number, his fingers were shaking and his heart’s beating picked up in pace.  _ It’s not that big a deal, Shouyou. Chill out.  _ He pressed the phone to his ear.

 

“Hinata?” Kageyama said clearly with food still in his mouth once he answered the phone. 

 

“Hey, Kageyama. Uh, are you eating lunch with anyone?” Hinata’s voice got a little weaker with each word. 

 

“Nah, why?” 

 

“Well, we were thinking maybe you could eat with us?” Shouyou could hear Kageyama's big gulp when he swallowed through the phone and then he started coughing. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. Uh, who’s ‘us?’” he asked once he finished choking. 

 

Hinata smiled,  _ only dorks like you choke on their food all the time.  _ “Well, it's just Sekimukai Kouji, Izumi Yukitaka, and me. Yachi is eating with her other friends today.” 

 

“Uh...sure. Where are you?” He actually had no idea at all who Kouji and Izumi were, but even though he was a complete dummy around Hinata, he still wanted to see him. Well, that is if he could actually look at him today. 

 

“Um, so you know where that big, big tree is in front of the school? You do? Okay, yeah, we’re at the table with the window that has the best view of it.” It was nothing. He was just going to come eat lunch with them and Hinata should not have been as nervous as he was considering he’s eaten lunch with Kageyama several times before and he kept telling himself that is wasn't a big deal, but  _ hell,  _ it felt like was so shut up. “Okay, bye-bye.”

 

“So, is he coming?” Izumi asked, watching his friend set his phone down, not letting those shaky hands go unnoticed. He eyed him suspiciously, was it just him or did Hinata seem nervous? Shouyou nodded as he shifted to make room for Kageyama, no eye contact.  _ Yep, most definitely nervous.  _

  
  


Luckily for Kageyama, the “big, big” tree window wasn't too far from where he was sitting, so he packed up his pork curry meat bun in the sack along with his milk and made his way towards Hinata. 

 

He spotted Shoyou the moment he turned the last corner and it was then when he found out that it was absolutely possible for him to get butterflies in his stomach and chest at the same time without being on a roller coaster and it was completely  _ impossible  _ for him to look at Hinata today. 

 

Should he turn back around? No, what would his excuse be? Does he even need an excuse? Nah, he can just act like he never saw them…

  
  


“Shit,” Hinata said under his breath once he caught sight of Tobio. 

 

“What? Did you see him?” Izumi asked looking around the cafeteria. “Where is he? What does he look like?” 

 

“Zoom, my boy, chill,” Kouji said putting a hand on Izumi’s shoulder. 

 

“Uh, yeah,” Hinata said, his head down. “He’s over there by one of the pole things. He’s the tall one with raven black hair.” 

 

Izumi gasped once his eyes came across a very intimidating guy with a murderous glare and he was clutching a milk carton in his hand. “Uh, Shou...the scary one?” Izumi asked trying so hard to look away as he waited for Shouyou's answer, but he heard his friend laugh instead. 

 

“Probably,” Hinata said still laughing, trying to hide his smile. 

 

“Okay,” Izumi said, his fear disappearing completely as he stood and waved all big and shamelessly catching the attention of everyone around them. “Kageyama! Over here!” If Shouyou wasn't afraid of Kageyama then he shouldn't be either, right? 

 

_ Tch. _ Now Tobio couldn't run away no matter how hard he’d try. He made his way towards their table never looking at Hinata's face because he knew if he did he’d see those huge golden eyes looking back at him and he wouldn't,  _ couldn't  _ allow that. Not yet, anyway. 

 

On his way he noticed that the only seat open was the one next to Shouyou and he mentally sighed with relief because now it wouldn't look so odd if he didn't look at Hinata, but before he could even blink the brown haired boy switched seats and sat right beside Shouyou leaving that dreadful seat right in front of Hinata empty.

 

_ Why me?  _

 

When he finally sat down and took out his food he felt all of their eyes on him, but never once did he dare look up. “Are you gonna introduce us?” Izumi whispered into Shouyou's ear as he continued to watch Kageyama. 

 

“Oh, uh, Ka-Kageyama,” he stuttered.  _ Great start, Shouyou.  _ Tobio looked up finally, but of course he looked away as soon as he did. “This is Izumi,” he said gesturing to the boy with brown hair, “and this is Kouji.” Kageyama looked to his right at the boy with spiky, black hair. “They've been my friends since middle school,” he said and Tobio could hear his bright smile and a little (big) part of him wanted (needed) to just look over at Shouyou and admire his beautiful smile like he used to before he got all nervous and stupid.

 

“So, Kageyama,” Izumi said and Tobio's eyes drifted to him instead. “I hear you're a professional ice skater.”

 

“You did?”

 

“Yeah, Shouyou here said, ‘He’s been skating for 15 years, he’s basically a pro already.’” And that's when he did it, that's when he looked at Hinata and saw that he was blushing and was wearing this closed eye smile as he scratched the back of his neck. And when Shouyou tilted his head just a little, his eyes still closed, a ray of light came from outside through the “big, big” tree window and hit his face perfectly and Tobio couldn't keep his eyes off Hinata then, it was like he had to observe every inch of Shouyou's face that time, every beautiful freckle that he never noticed before wanting it to be forever etched into his memory because the sun illuminating the sun was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. 

 

* * *

  
  


December 21st, just one more day of school left until Christmas break….is what Hinata would rather be thinking about, but instead he was stressing hardcore about how he’s going to do things tomorrow. He’s thinking about every scenario and how each of them could end, both bad ways and good ways, mostly bad ways. For example, he could bring the cake and the little gift he bought last night (yeah, he finally thought of an actual present) and sing Happy Birthday and Tobio could be really surprised, but not because Hinata brought the cake but because he tripped as he was walking and dropped it all over Kageyama and then Kageyama would get mad and not want to teach him anymore and then--

 

“Hinata?” he heard his teacher say. Oh yeah, he was in class. He looked at his teacher apologetically. “What are you going to do this Christmas?”  _ Good.  _ He thought it was going to be an actual question, but he forgot the last two days the school let them have free days.

 

“Not sure yet,” he answered truthfully.

 

“Then, what do you want to do?” 

 

“Uh,” there was a lot of things he wanted to do this break, but he decided he shouldn't say  _ everything.  _ “Well, I’ve been ice skating lately, so I want to learn more over break from my coach.” 

 

“Oh, really?” She seemed interested enough, but once Hinata nodded she smiled and moved to the next person. 

 

The bell rang and he went to go meet up with Kouji and Izumi for their next class which they had together. Once they were all together his much taller and stronger friends shoved him in the middle of them and squashed him as they made their way to the classroom, it was a thing they used to do when they were younger and when Hinata was much shorter and it was fun no matter how much his shoulders and ribs would hurt.

 

“Guys,” he said once they were in class and he was no longer in pain. He decided to ask them for advice about tomorrow. 

 

“Wassup?” Kouji asked as Izumi laid his head on his shoulder with a yawn. 

 

“I need some of your expert advice for tomorrow.”

 

“What's tomorrow?” Izumi asked as Kouji rested his head back on Izumi's. 

 

“Kageyama's birthday.” 

 

“Did you get him anything?” Kouji asked yawing for the sixth time already. Did they get enough sleep last night?

 

“Yeah, a keychain and I, uh, I wanna get him a cake, too, but I dunno if I should buy it or bake it.” He didn't want to tell them about dinner because they’ll get all suspicious and crazy like they do about everything and by ‘they’ he meant Izumi.

 

“This is easy. You like him, don't you?”

 

“Yeah,” and that look in Izumi's eyes as they widened for what seemed like 50 billion centimeters made him realize what he just said. “I mean wait---”

 

“Ah ha! You finally said it!” Izumi said picking up his head too fast for Kouji to move his and they ended up bumping heads. 

 

“Ouch, the hell, Zoom?” Kouji said rubbing his ear and head. 

 

“Oh hush, you're heads harder and you owee mee fivve buckkss,” he sang poking Kouji's side, which just so happened to be his tickle spot and Kouji started to laugh uncontrollably. 

 

“O-okay, I owe you haha s-stop.” He pushed Izumi's fingers away and got out his wallet taking out a $5 bill to which Izumi snatched.

 

“Thanks,” Izumi said with a very wide smile on his face as he slid the buck inside his pocket.

 

“You guys betted on whether or not I like Kageyama?” Shouyou thought he’d be more shocked, but this is Izumi and Kouji he was talking about so it wasn't all that surprising.

 

“Yep and Kouji was so confident that you didn't like him saying, ‘why would Shou like his own coach?’ and I was like ‘boi, why wouldn't he? Shouyou has a thing for boys who ice skate, didn't you know?’” 

 

Shouyou blushed.  _ Was it that obvious?  _

 

“How was I supposed to know that?” and then they started arguing about how “fucking clear” it was that Shouyou “absolutely had a thing for the skater boys” and totally forgot about Hinata until he said,

 

“Guys!” and they looked at him instantly. “Jesus. Bake or buy?”

 

“You like the damn boy so, bake the damn cake, Shou,” Izumi said with a playful smile. 

 

“Well, will you help me bake the damn cake?” Hinata asked because well, uh, he never really learned how to make a cake.

 

Izumi laughed, “Sure. You in, Kouj?” he looked over at him.

 

“Yeah, but I never made a cake before either so..”

 

“Always a first for everything and ooo, my mom has this delicious recipe we can use.” 

 

“Okay, my house after school,” Hinata said.

 

“Don't you have practice?” Izumi asked. 

 

“Crap. Uh, I’ll think of something to get out of it. Don’t worry.” 

 

But the thing was Hinata absolutely did not want to tell Kageyama himself. He was too scared and he really didn't have a proper excuse that he could actually use to convince Tobio. So he did what any other person would do: tell someone else to tell him. 

 

“Hitokaaa,” he called cutely once he spotted her in the hall before last class. She was with her friends and seemed completely surprised when she heard Shouyou. “Will you do me a HUGGGE favor?” he asked once he got to her. 

“Sure. What is it?” Yachi was extremely worried because when Hinata asked for “HUGGGE” favors it's because they're actually huge and her worries grew even more when he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked directly in her eyes. She knew this move. It was the move he only did when the favor was way bigger than “HUGGGE” and she had to prepare herself.

 

“Will you,”  _ here it comes,  _ “tell Kageyama that I won't be able to make it to practice tonight?” 

 

_ What?  _ “Uh, sure?” 

 

His face lit up and he took her in his arms and kind of picked her up off the floor a few centimeters. “You're the best, Hitoka. Okay, see you later!” he said waving as he made his way down the hall. 

 

She waved back still confused about why he made a big deal if it was something so small. Maybe because Kageyama's kind of scary. 

 

It was after school when she spotted Tobio and told him the news. He looked confused at first, but just said “okay” and didn't ask why. That's Kageyama for you, she thought as she watched him walk away. 

  
  


* * *

 

December 22nd a.k.a d-day. School was a complete free day and none of the students were required to go to any of their classes except to check in with every teacher for attendance. It was an advantage for Shouyou because he didn't know any of Tobio's classes to take him the cake and present. 

 

“Do you guys see him anywhere?” Hinata asked Izumi and Kouji as they were walking down the halls trying to find Kageyama which was sort of hard because there was students crowding every inch.

 

“Nah,” Kouji answered. To be honest it was kind of a relief that they hadn't found Tobio just yet because Shouyou's nerves were off the rails. Sure, he felt the feeling before but there was some sort of difference to this one. It was something else completely, something furry and erratic, fluttering like wings and humming like bugs all over his insides until they hurt with it. It was usually just the fluttering and his stomach hurting, but this time was way different, way more painful, way more nerve wracking and it kept increasing with every step he took, every breath he drew. 

 

“Found him,” Izumi said.  _ Shit. How will he react? Will he be happy? Mad? Does he even like cake? Why didn't I ask? Does he like his birthday? Is it okay if we do this? What was I thinking? Can I back out? Is it too late? It’ll be easy. All I have to do is turn and-- _ “Shou,” Izumi shook his shoulders enough from behind to bring him out of his thoughts. “Don't tell me you're nervous. You're just giving him cake and a keychain. You've given someone cake and a present before.” He glanced at his small friend and stopped him once he noticed how nervous he looked. Izumi took Hinata's shoulders in his hands and looked straight into those big eyes that were clearly full of worry and calmly said, “Shou, it’s going to be fine. I’m sure he’d like it.” 

 

“But,” Shouyou tried. 

 

“Nope. No buts. Let's go.” And they did go. They went and went all the way to Kageyama who was sitting on the floor by one of the school doors and wearing his off-white sweater, the one Hinata loves and he had his blue earplugs in, eyes closed listening to whatever it was that was playing. 

 

He looked pretty, honestly. His face was so peaceful with the way his eyebrows rested straight, calm on his face instead of furrowing, with the way his mouth laid in a flat line instead of being dragged down with a frown. It was a breathtaking sight according to Hinata Shouyou, and in no way did he want to disturb this beauty of a man. No, not while he was resting and looking all cute. Yeah, maybe he’ll do this next December 22nd when they know each other well enough that he would know what kind of gift to get Tobio without have to spend weeks on trying to think about what to buy. But just when he was about to announce his brilliant plan, Kageyama's eyes opened. 

 

_ Damn.  _

 

“Happy birthday!” Izumi and Kouji yelled happily as Hinata just stood there with the cake in his hands and doing absolutely nothing but that was because he was way too busy staring at Tobio’s completely surprised face that just so happened to be staring up back at him. 

 

“We baked a cake for you, Kageyama,” Izumi said taking a seat on the floor in front of Kageyama, Kouji following bringing Shouyou down with him. 

 

Kageyama pulled out his earplugs and put them away. He broke his gaze with Hinata and stared at the small, round, blue frosted cake that read ‘Happy Birthday, Kags.’  _ Kags? _

 

Hinata followed his gaze and decided to talk, finally. “We couldn't fit your whole name on it,” he said looking back at Tobio for a reaction. Anything. And just when Shouyou was about to tell himself that there was no  _ way  _ Kageyama was going to react, Tobio smiled. It was a very acute smile that you had to squint to see, but it was a gorgeous smile nonetheless. It was a closed smile, but Tobio's beautiful blueberry eyes had a shine that Hinata never saw in his eyes before that shined so bright it didn't matter how small his smile was. And it made Hinata brighten up and his nerves lessen, just a bit. 

 

“Thank you,” Tobio said looking up at them. It was one of his sincere thank yous, the ones he said whenever Shouyou gave him food, the only thing different was that smile. That charming smile that Hinata only got to see one other time. 

 

“No problem,” Kouji said. “You gonna cut it, Shou?” 

 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Hold on.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny jewelry box and held it out for Tobio. “I got this for you.” Once Tobio took it out of his hands Shouyou looked at the cake and started to cut it.

 

_ A present?  _ Tobio thought. He opened it to find a keychain. The keychain was two ice skates the same color as his real ones. He flipped it over and found the words,  _ Happy birthday, Kageyama. Shouyou,  _ engraved in it. He traced his fingers over the words feeling how each letter curved and crossed. 

 

He honestly didn't think Shouyou would remember that his birthday was today much less bring him a cake and a present. He actually thought Hinata was trying to avoid him because he didn't go to practice yesterday and didn't say why. It wasn't like there were tests he had to study for.

 

_ Wait. Did he skip practice just to make me a cake?  _

 

“D-do you like it?” Hinata asked, his head slightly tilted to the left. He was done cutting the cake and there was a slice in front of everyone on a plate already. Tobio looked up at Hinata and he saw how pink his cheeks were. 

 

“Yeah,” he said in his most calm voice he could pull off despite the butterflies that were having a full on war in his stomach just because he saw Shouyou blushing. 

 

Shouyou giggled. “I meant the cake. You haven't even tasted it yet.” 

 

"Oh. The cake. Uh." He set his gift back in the box and reached down for the cake in front of him.   
  
He heard Shouyou laugh again and he looked back up at him. "I'm kidding. I was talking about the keychain. I'm glad you like it." Hinata was smiling that one smile that sent Tobio's winged friends that will forever live in his stomach as long as Hinata was around wild. The smile where his eyes kind of shut and his cheeks were barely pink, but pink enough to see and his teeth caught the light of whatever was lighting the place at the moment, be it sun or bulb. It was that same smile, the exact same one he smiled with at that party that had Kageyama falling so hard.    
  
Yeah, he knew he was falling in love with Shouyou with the help of Daichi. It wasn't like Daichi flat out told him, "Tobes, you're in love with Hinata" no. He gave hints. He told the story of how he fell in love with Suga, which was so cute it was disgusting, but it did the job and Kageyama couldn't  think about anything else, any _ one _ else. And it somehow helped with the can't-look-at-Hinata-without-dying problem he had a little. Well, he still died, but it felt good. It felt nice. He felt happy. He felt like nothing bad has ever happened to him or anyone else.   
  
He took his signature bite out of the cake Hinata and his friend's made and god, it was delicious. It melted just right on his tongue, from the perfectly made frosting, to the beautiful, golden brown bottom.    
  
"You look like you like it," Hinata said watching Tobio bite into the cake as his eyes shut.    
  
"It's my mom's recipe," Izumi said. Tobio opened his eyes and chuckled and set what was left of his cake down which was almost a crumb. 

 

_ What the hell? Since when did he--how did he--wh--? _ Hinata's heart started to flutter to the max, it fluttered so much it felt as if it sprouted wings and began to fly all around his insides. Kageyama Tobio actually chuckled and it was perfect. It hitched just perfectly and dropped just right. 

 

Was that even allowed here on earth or was it just a thing only angels could do?

  
  


* * *

 

It was after school when they took their first walk to practice together. It was snowing again today and it was so cold Hinata's teeth were chattering and his whole body was shivering from head to toe. It was quiet except for the sound of the snow crunching under their feet until Tobio broke the silence by saying, “Here.” Hinata looked down at Kageyama's hands and he was handing him his gloves. 

 

“It's okay, Kageyama. You don't have to,” he said even though he really wanted them and not just because he was cold, but also because he wanted to see how big Tobio's hands were compared to his. 

 

“I like the cold. Take them,” he said still holding them out. Hinata looked up at him and saw Tobio's ears red to the tips and he wasn't looking over at Hinata besides just a side glance he did only once. “You're freezing, Hinata,” he said as he gently shoved the gloves against Hinata's chest and held them there until he took them. Hinata was blushing by then because Tobio gave up a little of his warmth for him and even though it wasn't that big of a deal, it meant something to Shouyou. He slid the gloves on and his hands all but shouted with thanks as Tobio’s warmth removed the cold from them. 

 

“Thank you,” Tobio heard from below. He looked over at Hinata and noticed the tips of the gloves were drooping due to the lack of extra finger length that Shouyou clearly didn’t have. Kageyama smiled.  _ Cute.  _

 

“Yeah.”  _ Anything to keep you warm,  _ he thought. He usually wouldn’t have let himself think this because it would have made him blush and feel silly, but it the feeling was...good now. He liked having the pain of butterflies and his heart flutter so much at one time. It was fun to like someone now thanks to Daichi. Now that Tobio realized that he was falling for Shouyou, liking him seemed easier no matter how much his heart pounded against his chest or the ridiculous amount of butterflies and bugs that fluttered and buzzed against his insides. He bit back a smile as he thought about how stupid happy Daichi would be if he found out how unbelievably happy he was, not that he would actually tell him.

 

Shouyou kept stealing glances at Tobio just for sake of looking at him and although he knew that Tobio was incredibly good looking, it took Shouyou a few quick glances and one stare before he realized how soft and pretty Tobio actually looked in the snow with the way the pure white specks fell on his raven black hair, how they fell on his really long eyelashes and how easily he blinked them away letting them melt from the heat on his cold, red cheeks.

 

“No food today?” Kageyama suddenly said, startling Hinata and bringing him back to their walk. 

 

_ Oh. Right. His next present.  _ “Uh, well, I,” Hinata started and despite the cold temperature that day, his hands were almost dripping sweat with how nervous he was. “I was thinking that maybe we could, uh, go out to eat tonight...for your birthday.” He closed his eyes waiting for his response in the silence that felt like forever. 

 

“Sure,” is what he finally said.  It wasn’t long after when they made it to the rink. They walked in said their greetings to Hitoka and went to get ready, putting on their skates and taking off their coats leaving on their sweaters they had underneath. Hinata’s hands grew preposterously cold once he took Tobio’s gloves off, but all he did was rub them together and was just about to walk out of the locker room until he heard Kageyama’s voice from behind him. 

 

“Hinata.” He turned around to face his coach and found his face only inches from Tobio’s chest, which shocked him and consequently fell backwards. He let out a yelp and the hand that he held out was quickly grabbed before he was on the ground. He soon felt his body being pulled upwards and was met again with Tobio’s chest, this time zero space between his face and the taller boy’s beautifully broad chest. 

 

Kageyama could feel his heart banging on the walls of his chest begging to be let out and his well known winged friends making another appearance. He felt Shouyou’s breath against his sweater, the heat seeping through the fabric and then the breathing stopped completely, leaving the spot cold again. And then he realized where his hands were, one was holding Shouyou’s while the other was holding his extremely small waist. He felt the heat again, but this time from two places; one was Hinata’s breathing again and the other was Shouyou’s other hand clutching at his sweater right where his ribs were. Kageyama’s breathing quickened and as it did his nose was soon filled with the pleasant smell of strawberries that was coming from the smaller boy’s hair and no, Kageyama Tobio couldn’t take it anymore. He cleared his throat before he could talk.

 

“Uh,” Hinata heard from above and he felt his coach’s breath tickle the ends of his hair, sending shockwaves down his neck, down his spine. This position reminded him of that day when he hugged Tobio and that’s what he wanted. He wanted Kageyama to wrap his arms around him and hug him forever, but he felt himself being gently pushed away and he almost let out a whine, catching himself before he did. 

 

When he was fully off Kageyama, he acted like what just happened was totally not turning his insides around over and over again and his heart wasn’t beating like he just sprinted around the entire country. He had just smiled and acted like he was wiping off sweat from his forehead. “Phew!” he said. “I thought I was going to die for sure. Thank you!” his smile never leaving his mouth and the pink never leaving his cheeks. He looked up at Tobio hoping he didn’t noticed his blushing and he found him just staring down at him.

 

“Keep these on,” Kageyama said, handing over his gloves which was his initial plan before the falling incident. Hinata looked up at him as if asking for permission to actually take them even though he was clearly told he could wear them. To be honest he was kind of getting a little irritated because Shouyou seemed completely unphased by the intimacy that was clearly there just a minute ago and he was getting tired of telling Hinata that he could wear his stupidly huge gloves more than once, so he grabbed his student’s hands and slid the gloves on them for him. 

 

“Thank you,” Shouyou said, a smile still lingering on his lips. Tobio shook his head, he couldn’t stay mad at him; it was practically impossible. He nodded and walked passed him to the rink and he heard Hinata’s small footsteps behind him and he couldn’t help but smile at how cute they sounded. 

 

They were on the ice already when Hinata said, “It feels like I haven’t been here in YEARS!” as he twirled with his arms out and face facing the ceiling, his smile capturing the light and almost blinding Tobio who was just watching him. 

 

“You haven’t,” he teased as he skated towards his student. Hinata seemed surprised Tobio even responded, stopping mid twirl to look at his mentor. 

 

“Yes, I have,” Hinata argued back, smirking. 

 

Kageyama shook his head. “We need to improve your footwork,” he said. He was originally going to just let him skate freely to a playlist he had prepared, but considering the previous incident, he decided they needed to actually work and plus, Hinata hasn’t been to practice in a while. 

 

Hinata giggled. “Is it because I fell earlier?” 

 

“Maybe,” Tobio said already getting into position to do a simple sequence for Hinata, but his student did something that kind of threw him off guard. 

 

“MaYbE,” Shouyou mocked, placing both of his hands on his hips and leaning forward a bit as he did. He looked over at Tobio for a reaction, but once he did he wished he could unsee what he just saw because it was too much for him. He had saw Kageyama laughing and not that really cute chuckle he did earlier at school, but a full on laugh. He was holding his stomach as he threw his head back just a bit and the sound that was coming out of his mouth wasn’t as attractive as his chic chuckle, but it was still perfect and Hinata couldn’t help but laugh himself, finding his coach’s laugh contagious. 

 

And then Kageyama abruptly stopped all together, leaving Hinata to laugh by himself until he realized he was the only one still laughing. “What?” Shouyou asked, wiping a tear that formed from laughing too hard. 

 

“You mocked me.” 

 

“Yeah, isn’t that why were laughing?” Hinata asked as he skated back a little.

 

“You just looked funny to me.” Kageyama skated towards Hinata a little.

 

“So you were laughing at me?” Hinata was farther away from Tobio now.

 

“You were laughing at me.” Kageyama picked up his pace by just a few steps. 

 

“We were laughing at each other,” Hinata said proud of himself because he got Kageyama to follow him. “And since when did you start laughing? It caught me off guard.” He was backing away more.

 

“Tch,” was all that came out of Tobio’s mouth before he actually started chasing Hinata. 

 

Hinata was surprised at first because he didn’t think he was going to be able to make Kageyama chase him so quickly, but he had to throw away how shocked he was because if he was being honest Tobio chasing him was actually way scarier than he anticipated. He was going as fast as his little legs on ice could take him, looking over his shoulder to peek at his younger. "Bakageyama!” he threw behind him, trying to go faster because he didn’t want to be caught after calling his coach that. He was going quicker and quicker, trying his hardest to be faster than Tobio and before he knew it his right foot got caught behind his left foot and there he went, to the ice face first, but in the blink of an eye there was Tobio who caught up to him at the wrong time. They collided and fell together, Kageyama landing on top of Hinata. Kageyama luckily didn’t put his full body weight on the much smaller boy, though Hinata wouldn’t have entirely minded if he did. 

 

Tobio’s heart was racing and not just because the super fast skating. Hinata was under him and looking up at him as if he was innocent and not the one who caused this. “I told you we needed to work on your foot--” he was interrupted by a tug on his sweater and big honey-colored eyes only inches away from his now. And he wanted to kiss Hinata so badly with the way the boy underneath him kept looking down at his lips and biting his own as if he was asking for it. Before he knew it he was inching their faces together until there was only a few centimeters left between each other, but it wasn’t him that closed the gap, it was Hinata who brought their lips together. All of Tobio’s thoughts were erased and he melted into the kiss, almost moaning at how impossibly  _ good  _ it felt to finally kiss Shouyou. 

 

Hinata reached one of his hands into that black hair he’d been wanting to touch ever since he saw it, pulling Tobio closer and closer, like he didn’t want a single molecule of air to rest between them and Kageyama let him because he was unbelievably warm and it all felt unbelievably great. Kageyama gave one of those soft, barely there groans when Hinata lifted his head a little and licked at him and he wrapped an arm around Shouyou’s small waist, pressing them even closer and Hinata just couldn’t get enough. 

 

Kageyama pulled away first, panting harsh and ragged all over Hinata’s face before he laid his head on the ice beside Shouyou, who was still underneath him and breathing equally hard. Hinata tilted his head to the side just enough for his mouth to be almost touching Kageyama’s ear and whispered, “Happy birthday, Kageyama.” And despite the coldness of the ice underneath his head and around his body, Tobio was perfectly warm. He smiled contenty, he could get used to this. And not just hugging someone but also being happy and being okay with it. It's what his mom would have wanted anyway. He whispered back a thank you and they stayed like that for a little longer. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Thanks so much for reading~

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: chicbel or isabel646


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